Climate volatility is the defining condition of our century. From the destructive wildfires in California, to the devastating monsoons killing hundreds and displacing millions in Southeast Asia, to a European summer heat wave that killed hundreds, 2025 gave us new proof that extreme weather is becoming more deadly, shifting from an occasional disruption to the background hum of modern life.
Wellness always evolves in response to the defining anxieties of the time. The 2000s gave us mindfulness to counter burnout, while the 2020s brought the longevity craze to soothe pandemic trauma. Now, the 2030s will be defined by resilience. Written by Cecelia Girr and Skyler Huber, Trend #5 from The Future of Wellness 2026 Trends report, “Ready Is the New Well,” details how the next wave of wellness promises something different: survival itself. Preparedness—long dismissed as the obsession of paranoid doomsday “preppers”—is becoming a foundational aspect of holistic wellbeing, where having a disaster plan will be as essential as having a fitness plan.
The trend explores four key pillars of disaster readiness and the new climate-resilient wellness movement.
In the wake of devastating fires in California in 2019, the Community Brigade formed—a cowboy collective of friends and neighbors in Malibu, from surfers to artists, that has become a pillar of community response in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from accelerating wildfire disasters. Members have since been formally trained and equipped to work alongside Los Angeles government agencies. They remove brush, address structural vulnerabilities, deliver medications and water, and provide emotional support to those in crisis. It's the first program of its kind in the United States and represents a new kind of wellness community—one that empowers people to become their own heroes and builds fire-prepared, climate-adapted communities block by block.
Sparked by the GWS trend, this article explores how designing disaster readiness into homes and buildings goes far beyond protecting the built environment. It helps safeguard the safety, health, and psychological wellbeing of occupants by ensuring air and water quality, reducing hazards, and maintaining access to power during crises. Experts discuss how “disaster resilience as the first principle of building” is gaining momentum because, for many people living in disaster-prone regions, it’s no longer a question of if, but what day. The article highlights pioneers such as Babcock Ranch in Florida, which features storm-hardened buildings, nature-integrated water management, smart pond technology, underground hardened utilities, and native vegetation. These measures enabled the community to emerge virtually unscathed from three recent catastrophic hurricanes. During Hurricane Ian, the development withstood sustained winds of 100 miles per hour for eight hours without flooding, power loss, internet outages, or disruption to water utilities.
Therapists from Germany to the UK to the US are seeing far more patients struggling with climate anxiety and eco-grief, now even dominating some therapy practices. But without funding into research and proper training, most therapists aren’t equipped to deal with an issue that differs greatly from traditional therapy’s ethos of just treating the individual, because being eco-aware means recognizing that “the climate crisis is both a global threat to all life on Earth and a deeply personal threat to … each individual.” Mental health professionals are making do and creating the tools they need, banding together to form groups like the Climate Psychology Alliance, which has seen membership double since 2023. The need for training in climate-aware mental health is urgent, and experts predict there will be many new approaches in coming years.
Psychologists are developing tools and strategies to help people understand the risk of extreme weather and take action. Much is underway: they’re studying people’s response to risk to help design clear and emotionally resonant warning messages; they’re helping design preparedness systems that move beyond individual responsibility; and they’re key to developing interventions for climate-related anxiety linked to extreme weather, ensuring that mental health responses are as systemic as the challenges themselves. Studying how community ties influence readiness and response, they know that motivating whole communities, not just individuals, is crucial. In New Zealand, disaster readiness improved when residents were encouraged to form connections through “know your neighbor” campaigns and when local governments invested in shared spaces like community halls and gardens. Psychologists are even working on climate-ready schools.
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